The Contract

This time the ex cop with problems is Ray Keene, a man who is having tremendous difficulty in building the relationship between himself and his son. So like the true American Dad he is, he plans to take his son off into the word for a male bonding camping trip. However things go wrong when during the trip, they encounter an hit man named Cordell who is escaping justice. Keene holds the hit man at gunpoint but since he cannot call for back up, he and his son must somehow get the criminal back into custody. However the hit man has friends and they are determined to get him back, as well so the chase is on through the forest and Keen has to call upon all of his resources to save his son and see that justice is served on a hit man who appears to have some kind of conscience.

There is an awful lot to like about this movie, not least of which being that it brings together John Cusack and Morgan Freeman as Keene and Cordell respectively. Both of course are excellent and both have interesting characters to play which is probably what attracted them to the script in the first place. Of the two, Freeman gets more of a role to really get his teeth into though, presenting Cordell as a complex character with a lot going on beneath the surface. The script plays with this and raises some morally complex questions, and it is difficult to remember sometimes that Freeman is actually playing the so called “baddie”. However, he gets plenty of opportunity to remind us why exactly Cordell has been such a success in his chosen profession, making for a very satisfying character arc.

The dialogue is more sparkling than the action scenes but these are also well handled, just at times seeming to interrupt the fine performances from the two leads. Extremely enjoyable thriller, well worth a look.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

However, many years ago the immortalParnassusfell in love with a mortal woman. He made a deal with the devil, Mr Nick (Tom Waits), to exchange his immortality for youth. However, as deals with the devil often pan out, this came at a price: Doctor Parnassus promised Mr. Nick his son or daughter when they turned sixteen years of age. Now his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) is fast approaching her sixteenth birthday and Doctor Parnassus is keen to make a new deal: whoever can seduce five souls within the imaginarium will win Valentina.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is an outstandingly beautiful and remarkable film: it’s achievements are especially great considering Heath Ledger, one of the main stars, sadly passed away part way though filming. However, luckily due to the fantasy nature of the film Terry Gilliam was able to think up a way to complete Ledgers wonderful final performance, by having a star cast of Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell step in to play different aspects of Tony whilst he is within the Imaginarium. Their performances all compliment Ledger’s original take on the character, and it is a technique that, although thrust upon the film, never the less works very well indeed.

The film is pure Gilliam at his very best. It is weird, wacky and wonderful: a stunning film.

Kathryn Bigelow in The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is a very powerful film that manages to be both exiting and tender. Right from the start you are thrust into the terrifying world of the bomb team, and the tension remains taught all the way through the film: right from the first scene to the last. It effectively captures the uncertainty and constant suspicion the team are forced to face on a daily basis: there is no way they can tell who around them might be holding the detonator to the bomb they are walking up to.

The screenplay and the performances are wonderfully strong, and draw you into the world to make all the characters very likable and sympathetic. The portrayal f the soldiers have a depth and a realism that brings the situation to life.  The sound is also fantastic at building and keeping the tension through out the film.

Sometimes this film can be extremely shocking and genuinely saddening, but it is also extremely exciting. This intense film balances action with a touching, very human drama.

As he tells the tale of The Princess Bride, the story comes alive. The beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright) is kidnapped and forced into an engagement to the evil Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). It is up to her childhood love, Westley (Cary Elwes), and the colourful characters of Ingio Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), and the Giant Fezzick (André the Giant), to save her.

Robin Wright in The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is a humongous amount of fun for the whole family. It is a tongue in cheek fairytale, over the top, tender, and extremely entertaining. The characters are all brilliant, and the story exciting and fun. It has all the elements of the very best of fairytales, and leaves you as spellbound as the boy being read the story.

Every element of the film comes together to create the wonderful world of The Princess Bride. The dialogue, in particular, is fantastic, and is littered with memorable quotes.

It is hilariously funny, and hugely quotable: leading it to become somewhat of a cult favourite. It is a highly enjoyable fantastical, romantic romp, where anything is possible. It is a fantastic film, and one of those rare movies that gets better every time you watch it.

Yonica Babyyeah

The film is an odd mix of genres: part slapstick comedy, part touching drama, part exciting action thriller. But it works. It is often dark, but it is just as often funny.

Before you know it, the film draws you into the mad world of war and makes you love each of the three main characters.  Duff, as sexy pop star Yonica Babbyeah, is in particular utterly unrecognisable from the innocent blond Disney poster girl we are used to.

The film is very character driven, and some of the supporting characters, too, are hilarious.  Marsha Dillon (Joan Cusack) as Hauser’s secretary/contact is fabulous, as are the characters of the three local filmmakers Hauser hooks Natalie up with.

The way the film is edited together helps to capture and highlight the odd mix of styles; I liked the music used in particular.

This is an intelligent and highly entertaining political film, with outstanding characterization.

And God Created Woman

Vadim proves his directing skill in this fun and entertaining movie, handling the nudity with great skill and taste and he gets the most out of his actors as well as showing a great command of the camera. De Mornay is excellent as Robin, somehow managing to make her likeable and as the film progresses the viewer finds themselves rooting for her (pun unintentional). In staunch support as Billy is Vincent Spano, an everyman who is used by his manipulative lover but despite that, finds that he is falling in love with her….never a good idea!

The always excellent Frank Langella puts in an appearance as the oklder Senator in waiting, another man who Robin decides she can use to her advantage in her quest to become a famous rock singer and a lot of the enjoyment to be had out of this movie is in seeing these two guys, with such contrasting backgrounds and personalities being skilfully wrapped around her little finger. Eve would have been proud of Robin and she certainly knows how to use sexual temptation to her advantage.

It’s a VERY 80s movie though fortunately, hailing from the latter part of the decade, we are spared some of the worst fashion disasters and are treated to an excellent rock soundtrack. This one really is a hidden gem, with a fine script and excellent and surprisingly sensual direction. It’s De Mornay’s film though, she walks off with all the acting plaudits and makes Robin a cleverly crafted and even sympathetic character. Recommended!

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

This 2006 film from director Michel Winterbottom is the tale of two phenomenally egotistical selfish actors during the making of a period drama, an adaptation of “Tristram Shandy” and as such is one of those curious “film within a film” pieces, with excepts from the story being interwoven with the “real life” shenanigans.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon both play themselves…well, elaborated OTT versions of themselves. At lease, one hopes they are! Both are shallow, craven, self obsessed and largely failed in love and both are locked in a war for importance, second fiddle Brydon constantly insisting that he is in fact the “co lead”. It’s a bold move for both to put themselves on the line like this because you can almost guarantee that there would be some in the audience who went away thinking that the actors were genuinely like that.

Speaking of actors, the film has a great supporting cast. Names like David Walliams and Dylan Moran (playing the wonderfully named “Dr Slop!”) are familiar to UK TV watchers and cinema goers and it’s a delight to see Jack shepherd, one of those always reliable actors who never fails to put something extra into his performances and Keeley Hawes, a somewhat underrated actress recently finding fame in “Ashes to Ashes” as Elizabeth. There’s even an appearance by Gillian Anderson.

The films metatextual switching between the adaptation of “Tristram Shandy” and the production could easily get confusing but Frank Cotterel Boyce is a clever enough writer to avoid that trap and makes everything fit together seamlessly. Adapting the original novel by Laurence Stern has long been considered impossible so this is an intelligent way of filming the unfilmable. It’s also a lot funnier than a straight adaptation would have been, as you might expect from comic giants of the like of Coogan and Brydon. It’s not played entirely for laughs by any means, there’s a tremendous sense of disillusionment with the real world at its heart which is played sensitively through the characters and the two different worlds play against each other, one commenting on the other. This is a great movie with some fine actors and is a very satisfying watch. Enjoy it!

Cachorro (Bear Cub)

Cachorro is one of those Spanish movies that you would love watching over and over again. It has a heart, which is enough to solicit empathy. So at the end, you have an inspiring story to feel warm and good all around.

Cachorro is a story about a gay dentist named Pedro. He is at the height of his social life, having alone time at home and being able to have fun with his friends as much as he wants to. He is living in a downtown Madrid apartment, spiced with love, sex, and drugs. Pedro is definitely having the time of his life only to realize that his fun days will be cut short. That is, when his sister decided to have a trip to India and he is left to deal with his nephew Bernardo for the meantime.

Pedro and Bernardo did not come well together at first. But since the two-week vacation was extended to an indefinite duration of time – hippie sister and Bernardo’s mother was arrested in India for drug charges – they did not have any other choice but like each other. They also learned to know each other better as time goes by. Soon enough, they are already inseparable.

Thing is, it is never easy for Pedro to provide a father figure for Bernardo. Although he struggled, he is ready to change his ways and his lifestyle a bit only to find out that the boy’s grandmother will try to take custody, as she is not happy with the arrangement.

There are several strengths to the film. First, there is the magnificent direction. Director Miguel Albaladejo was able to tell his story and tell it nicely. His shots were able to picture out best what kind of emotion is supposedly in it. He is also able to get out the best of his talents.

That leads to another strength of Cachorro. The actors — Garcia Perez who plays Pedro and David Castillo who plays Bernardo – are both brilliant. They are able to portray their parts fabulously.

Then there’s the story. A nice mix of humor thrown into really serious issues is something that is enough for a full-packed entertainment. That’s Cachorro is out there for, to provide a nicely packaged entertainment that will make you laugh as much as it makes you cry.

A tale about family is always watch-worthy. What’s more when it is presented in a refreshing new way that would open up your minds. There is the tragic, moralistic, sentimental, and even comic ways that Director Albaladejo has chosen to deal with his subject. Fortunately for movie-loving fans like us, he was able to get across his point in a stylish manner. So you get a good watch out of a good story. Enough said.

There is something so impressive about indie horror flicks. No matter how little money is available to finish the film, the production is able to make do with it and maximize the money’s worth.

That’s exactly what you will realize upon seeing the film Ghoul School. This is an entertaining, scary take on the life within a high school that got invaded by ordinary people turned into aliens.

The aliens in question are produced by two perverted hooligans who accidentally let loose some chemicals into a high school’s water supply. Naturally, it was the school’s swimming team that first got infected by the chemicals and turned into unbecoming individuals, scaring the hell out of the coaches first then the rest of the school next.

It was the bravery of a group of nerds who are obsessed with freaky tales that try to put a stop to the mutants. But everyone knew from the start that the task is not as easy as it seems.

Ghoul School may have a very simple story as a background. Then again, that simple story has been manipulated enough to provide the necessary screams and thrills that every horror movie is expected to.

The scenes of fright include a shot of a swimming coach’s insides, pools of blood, and whatnots. It is a complete package of gore, fright, and some really bloody details. This is not something to watch when you have something at hand to munch on. Then again, you would not do that if you intend to be frightened to the highest level, right? You know exactly that horror movie is equivalent with icky details.

The special effects may not be outstanding as with those movies working on a multi-million dollar budgets. But they are fairly good enough to bring about the main intentions of the film, which is to send you screaming, disturbed and uneasy all throughout the 72-minute duration.

Aside from that, there’s the amazing musical feature of a heavy metal band within the freaky tale of Ghoul School. They band is aptly called the Blood Sucking Ghouls and it is called in to play at the school’s dance. The music style, the band’s exhibitions with instruments, and its uncanny performance will stick it out to you even after the film is through.

Ghoul School is a fairly good watch. If you are looking for something frightening, something that will make your skin hairs up, and something that will make you scream all throughout, this is something to dig out for. Ghoul School is a complete package of a horror movie. It is filled with gore, with bloodbaths, plus, an addition of a music feature.

Ghoul School is directed by Timothy O’Rawe. It stars Joe Franklin, William Friedman, Scott Gordon, Paul Venier, and Nancy Sirianni among others.

Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter in "The King’s Speech"

The King’s Speech, written by British-American playwright David Seidler, himself a childhood stutterer, has an unusually literary theme for a film – the power of speech. The issue is explored both directly, embodied in the future King George VI’s battle with a severe speech impediment, and metaphorically, stressing the way a public figure’s image is shaped by his ability to express himself, especially in a time of fear and confusion.

It is a terrible thing to be born into a profession that you are somehow unsuited for by nature. This is made amply evident from the very first scene of the film as Prince Albert, Duke of York (Colin Firth) fights unsuccessfully to pronounce a brief speech at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, as hundreds of listeners look on in dismay and derision. The deep sense of frustration and humiliation he experiences is so palpable it makes you cringe.

The following montage of increasingly ridiculous treatment strategies makes it clear that Albert’s problem is not being dealt with efficiently. He is only the second son of George V (Michael Gambon) after all, so there is little chance that he will be called on to embarrass his family on a regular basis. His faithful and determined wife, played by a surprisingly sane and demure-looking Helena Bonham Carter, refuses to give up that easily and searches out her own expert – failed-actor-turned-amateur-speech-therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), known for his unconventional methods. Faced with the unrelenting Duchess of York, and as yet unaware of her true identity, Logue wonders why her husband chose a career in public speaking, and whether he might consider an alternative career path – an ironic question that many unfortunate kings may have liked to ask themselves.

Even when he learns the truth about his new patient, the confident and forceful Logue refuses to be intimidated and insists on referring to him as “Bertie” and maintaining an atmosphere of complete equality during treatment. An unusual friendship evolves as Logue delves deeper into Bertie’s physical and psychological problems with exercises that range from rolling on the floor, to hollering profanities, to building model planes.

As the royal family disintegrates and the world is thrust into the clutches of a new World War, Bertie unwillingly becomes George VI, and is faced with his greatest fear – the necessity to give a public speech that must reassure his frightened subjects and establish his image as king.

Colin Firth definitely proves himself as a true dramatic actor, maintaining the charm that made him famous while finding new levels of subtlety and vulnerability in a very difficult, barely verbal role. Geoffrey Rush does a good job of keeping up, and the dialogues between the two are sharp, witty, and well written. Helena Bonham Carter does step out of her extravagant comfort zone, but is relegated to the rather familiar stock role of “loving, supportive wife” and spends most of the film smiling wisely and sympathetically.

It is altogether a very quiet, introspective film, unburdened by elaborate effects or complicated camera moves that it doesn’t really need. This is hardly surprising for a film whose most exciting, climactic scene is the giving of a speech. Firth’s screen presence however, really makes it work, creating a moment that is moving, epic, and significant, even if it takes place in a tiny room in front of a microphone.